Eyeglass retainers, holders or suspenders are used to suspend a pair of eyeglass about the wearer's neck when the eyeglasses are not being used to improve the wearer's visual acuity. Conventional eyeglass retainers are simple one-piece strings or elastic bands the ends of which tie or slide onto the temple arms of the eyeglasses (see e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,136,934 and 4,927,258). The eyeglass retainers could also simply be two chords tied together at one end and attached to opposite temple arms at the other. The ends of the retainers can also have optical couplers which are commonly an elastic loop that fits snuggly around the temple arm.
Conventional eyeglass retainers or single-use items, that is they do not serve any other intended purpose than to suspend one's eyeglasses when not in use. Thus, when the retainer is detached from the eyeglasses they are generally of no use. Additionally, conventional eyeglass retainers are not decorative and thus at best do not add to, and likely detract from, the aesthetic appearance of the wearer.
Accordingly, an eyeglass retainer that is both decorative when used as a retainer as well as functional, particularly to add decoration to the wear's head, when not used as a retainer is needed in the art.